The first week of January my husband and I gutted our one full size bathroom. It was old and dated and needed to be remodeled. I believed the schedule was realistic and thought it would be a relatively easy job. I have never been more wrong in my life.
First rule: renovation messiness seeps and spreads into every corner of the house. It took two full days to tear out the existing fixtures and dry wall. The tear our process meant that every room in our house would be dusty and in disarray. The hallway leading from the bathroom was too narrow to allow for clutter so the clutter naturally spilled over into all adjoining rooms. Tools seemed to have no natural home; they now resided on the kitchen counter top, my foyer table, and my bedroom dresser. I felt like I was living in a junkyard and seemed to acquire some Darwinian kind of adaptation. My physical appearance deteriorated. Now I needed a makeover. Feeling this way prompted examination of minor physical details at the most inconvenient moments. Like deciding I needed to file my nails while I was prying the sub floor up.
The second rule is everything takes three times as long as you thought it would. It's an applicable rule for life. I had scheduled getting the all the debris hauled out the following week. This was critical because my daughter had planned a small wedding shower for her best friend at our house the next weekend. Day before the shower I still had a garage filled with junk and a fresh six inches of snow on the driveway and still no pickup. I was into meltdown mode. Twenty women would arrive the next day and the walkway to our front door was inaccessible due to lack of shoveling from the previous 20 inches of snow. They would all to enter through the garage amidst the pile of junk. The prospect of this sent me into overdrive and my husband into hiding. I went onto Craig's list and spent most of that Saturday emailing prospective haulers. Just when I was ready to surrender to the mess I got a repose from a man living only ten minutes away who miraculously would arrive for pick up in less than a half hour. I was so ecstatic (and my husband grateful) that we helped load every last piece of trash into his truck and gave him more than the agreed amount.
Which brings me to the third rule, which is: life goes on so enjoy it. Despite the mess, despite my exhaustion the shower was the perfect antidote for a snowy day. We all sat comfortably on the couch and cushions looking out the back windows at the beautiful snowy woods, drinking wine, eating cheese and chocolate and laughing. That Sunday I had fun and forgot about the mess and the inconvenience.
The following weekend was back to work hanging new drywall and laying the sub floor. That's when I came to respect the carpenter's rule of: measure twice and cut once. Of course this rule was first experienced rather than known. This fourth rule has a clause, which is to "slow down" or to go slow to go fast because not doing this means you will waste time and materials. Like when my husband would give me a measurement to remember and of course once downstairs ready to cut I couldn't recall it. Back upstairs.
It was now time to tile. I was looking forward to this step because it was the first where I could actually see the potential new bathroom. But then I experienced the fifth rule: to expect the unexpected. The already installed three hundred pound cast iron tub had a slight defect and had to be replaced. The entire business of exchanging it reminded of the Laurel and Hardy short about moving the piano up a mountain of stairs. In addition to the grunt work it added several weeks to our schedule.
Rule number six is you can't always get what you wanted. We had picked out a beautiful earth tone stone tile to coincide with my vision of bathing tranquility. Problem is not really a problem but on closer inspection the tiles were all a different color. We were assured that the natural color variations enhanced the overall look. To ensure a professional job we would have to select tiles individually so they reflected this difference in tone. Not what we expected and not an easy job. The only place where we had the room to do a layout was in the middle of the living room. This created an interesting new playscape for the cat and dog. As well as lots of great discussion between my husband and I, he swears I am colorblind.
The seventh rule is to seek professional help when needed. This one is my favorite because my husband admitted his lack of skill and hired a plumber to install the rest of the fixtures. It was expensive but worth the money because it was done right.
It took three months but the bathroom is now completed. I feel like royalty having the luxury of a toilet and shower in the same room. I can remember vowing I'd be happier with an outhouse instead of spending every weekend working with what seemed no end in sight. Instead I'll be happy to clean and scrub my new tub and tile floor daily if need be. Which brings me to the last rule: you can't truly miss something until it's gone. Missing something leads to appreciation and gratitude for what you have. As I survey other potential projects I realize they can wait indefinitely, I'm satisfied with I have right now.
Karen Pesta provides character education for students K-12 promoting academic and social achievement and physical and emotional health. If you are looking for a program of character education that is deliberate, holistic and reaches your entire student population visit: http://www.creativeworldconnection.com
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